Sunflowers!

Look at me, updating after only 4 days and stuff.

Yesterday, we went to Batey Farms near Murfreesburo, TN to see the sunflowers in bloom.  They are only around about 2 weeks and just started to open last Wednesday, so the window is short!

It was hot, hot, hot!  We got up there at 5, hoping it would not be so bad, but it was.  Katy, her mom and Emma joined us for the experience.  And it was an experience...you'd think walking around in a field of flowers would be kind of boring, but no!  There were bees on every flower, which was exciting to see so many healthy honeybees out.  I bought a Mason jar of honey for $12, which is WAY cheaper than Karen's proposed $1000 a jar for her honey.  It is so good!  I am sure it comes from all kinds of flowers since the season is so short, but thinking it's sunflower honey made it even better.  hahaha!

There is a path cut through the flowers to about...100 feet in, with branches off in different directions and insets cut into the field for pictures.  There are 23 acres in all planted.  It was so cool to walk along and all these huge flowers are blooming between 5 and 6 feet off the ground, so it was like happy, yellow people surrounding you.  There would never be a Children of the Sunflowers because no one would be scared.  They ooze cheerfulness.

The bulk of the flowers face east, so there wasn't a 'full field facing' shot and it was way too hot to wiggle 23 acres through them and shoot against the sun.

I left a gap to photoshop Jake in.  But that seemed like a lot of work.
It was too hot to stand any closer, we really do know each other.

We have been playing Pokemon Go, which involves walking around the house, pasture, track and driving through town to get eggs and such from the places they occur.  We have so many eggs that we will have to walk something like 40 miles to hatch them all.  Matt suggested Richard Martin end to end twice.  ACK.  That would be 40 miles, but in this heat, I think 8 miles is my limit, unless we can walk after sunset.

Watched Mile...Mile and a Half about thru hiking the JMT.  WOW.  That's gorgeous, the AT has long boring bits with occasional views.  The JMT has nothing but views end to end.  I am starting a group to hike it in 2020, when Matt starts getting 4 weeks of vacation a year.  So far, there's me.

Did crunches with a 10 pound medicine ball and now-2 days later-my back is howling.  Wimpy spine and muscles.  Gah.  I am on a heating pad IN THE SUMMER.  But I had yogurt, so I should be healed in a couple hours, soon as it reaches my bones. Just enough time to finish the book I am reading, the last (that I can find) of the Yrsa Sigurdardottir's series set in Iceland.  My father and I have been delving into the Scandinavian crime novels the past 3-4 years and have exhausted the library and affordable ebook suppliers of our usuals and I turned, in desperation, to the single Icelandic crime writer and we both really like her work.  Daddy read them in order and I managed to mangle it quite a bit somehow, but only the substory of her family life follows a timeline, so it's not hard to piece together.  I told him we may have to resort to nefarious means to obtain new materials, but after talking it over, we discovered a homeschooling mom and a Baptist minister really don't have many blackmarket sources.  Or, well, any.

Good thing he will happily read thru hiker books because the man loves numbers.  All the miles and calories and days it rains and nights in town and gear costs, that all appeals to him on a deep level.  I gave him the Grandma Gatewood story last month, I really loved that book.  I was hoping since Emma backpacked well into her 80's that he'd be inspired to hike with me, but nothing doing.  He's retired, yo.  That means short walks with Butterbean and lots of sitting to fish, read and watch wrestling with the mute on.  I have NEVER understood that, he's done it since I was a kid.

This week is looking hot and rainy, but I have a thru hike in 4 years and I need to start training now or else I will die on the second day.  The first day, I will get through just because I will be so excited.  So, I am off to finish my to do list in the house and get gas for the mowers and as soon as it dries up enough, I will mow.  It may not be climbing mountains, but pushing a mower in this heat is still good practice for fending off sanity and you need that on a long hike.

 

Impending Doom, Things in Bloom

Ah, the storms are on the way.  The chicken houses across the road smell HORRIBLE, the wind is whipping around that stench, can't even breathe out there today. I plugged my nose and ran for the mail.  UGH. Nasty, nasty, nasty.  It smells like yeast mixed with the poop.  The first batch were grown and gone in 6 weeks and he took 2 weeks off between.  They come get them just after midnight and rev and back up the trucks once every 30 seconds, it's LOUD, took 2 nights and is yet another shining example of what a HUGE shithead the guy is.  It's not enough to befoul (literally) the very air we breathe, he's got to throw in noisy nights as well.

The wind is up and everything is whipping around.  The huge pine that looms over the bedroom is scraping along the roof when the wind hits just right.  It's not straight on, it's swirly.  It poured for about 15 seconds and managed to get the whole porch wet, so it must be raining sideways!

It's Groundhog Day, so I fed the cats and moved some firewood.  The traditional GD activities.  Later, I will walk on the treadmill because it keeps raining and then sunning outside and I don't want to go for a walk and end up in Oz.  

This is the type of weather that gets me hyped up for about half an hour, then I just want to sleep. Or...maybe that's the crash because it's 2 in the afternoon and I've only had a protein bar and about 20 sugar snap peas all day.  I'm eating jerky now, that should totally fix it.  No, wait.  Okay, now I am all better.  We made Julilanne taters with cheese.  1 box or the dehydrated kind weighs 4 ounces and has 4 servings, which is good, but it takes too long to cook to make it good for backpacking.  

These are the things in bloom/being green in the yard, February 2, 2016

Kuma is very against having his photo taken.

We have been eating this (spiderwort) and dandelion and of course sorrel.
Love some greens this time of year, I CRAVE them, I started buying spinach in big bundles so I can have it every single day, I just throw it in soup or eat it raw or toss it in a pan with some butter and wilt it to go on anything else I happen to be eating. I figure there's something I need in there, the way my tummy yells for greeeeeens. 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Hokey Smo, I am durn tired of the rain already.  We were TRYING to camp down at Pensacola this week and Sunday night alone-over 8 inches in one go.  And Monday, it rained until just before dark. We headed home Tuesday.  :(

Last week, Jake and Chan went to interview for summer positions with the NPS in Chattanooga.  I think the interviews went well, but I don't think they will get selected because they are supposed to decide within a few more days and have not contacted any of their references yet-to me that means they either are shoo-in without needing more info or they just did the interview as a courtesy or to get their numbers up.  I imagine if they can say 'we had 200 applicants for 60 positions' they can get more funding for next year to add a few more slots, that's how these things go sometimes.  So, we are making alternate plans as backup.

I have not taken many shots lately, here are a few and blogger is putting them in random order once again.

Bluebells in Katy's backyard

The dogwoods are in full bloom at Maple Hill Cemetery

Ben,  Peeps, welding goggles and a Fresnel lens
The tiny one on the ground next to him (that I carry in my wallet!) did more melting damage.

Chandler jogging in an old munitions bunker we found just outside of Chattanooga
Look at all the orbs!  It's GOT to be haunted.  ;)

A park drive.  We were going to have a walk and poor Jake's head exploded with allergies.  His eyes were so runny he could not hold them open, so I dosed him with meds and he had a nap while he recovered and Chan and I enjoyed a little drive in the country instead.

That peninsula is a campground!  All the sites are waterfront!

Another shot from the cemetery.

A lovely picnic spot we discovered last week.

The treehouse at Katy's.  That very top platform is the zipline launch!  AWESOME.

We had plans for hiking today and it's raining.  Hoping it will hold off tomorrow!